Easter Re-Cap

Wow, it's already been a week since Easter has passed, so now I'm really behind with posting a re-cap.  However, we had a wonderful weekend full of all of the fun Easter festivities to be expected.

We dyed eggs!  Well, we didn't get around doing this until later in the evening as you can see, so we didn't have good lighting, but it was still fun.  The guys had gone to a baseball game that afternoon, so we waited till we were all together.  I think dying eggs is one of my favorite memories as a child and it's always fun to re-live.  We had my sister and her family with my nieces and nephew along with my sister-in-law and her husband, and we all joined in on the fun.  I think my nephew now does these things to entertain us and please us, but he's getting over it.  :(

I didn't get a picture the next morning of what a big mess the Easter Bunny made in our living room, but there were baskets full of candy, eggs and treats.  Then we hunted all of the eggs he left for us in the house and in the yard.  Silly bunny. 

Here are the girls checking out their creations! 

We cheated and made easy cookies that were already cut into shapes!

We also finally heated our pool, and the weather was perfect on Easter, so the kids were able to take full advantage of it.  They swam the whole morning!  Well, I did too! :)  It was the first time I've gotten to swim in our pool since we moved into the house in November.  I'm so ready for Summer!

Oh and let's not forget that on Good Friday, I went to Canton, TX where Trade Days occur before the first Monday of every month.  It was my first time going, and I was definitely pleased.  They have antiques, boutiqes, craft shops and everything in between! 

I scored this table for a wonderful price. Seriously, we all agreed that one of us girls had to buy it and take it home.  It was too good of a deal to pass up.  This will now be the new desk in our office!  I'm thrilled with the direction of this room now.

XO,

Tara

Easter's on it's way...

We are having a pretty low key Easter weekend.  My sis and her family are coming to visit along with my mom and step-dad.  We plan on dying eggs, hunting eggs, baking and swimming.  Yes, we are hoping to heat our pool for the first time!  We'll see how this goes.  It's supposed to be warm and the weather has been beautiful, so we're crossing our fingers.  The guys are also going to go tak in a college baseball game on Saturday, which I heard my nephew is pretty pumped about.  At first, I thought he was just really excited about coming to visit me.....but it appears that he's 12, and I'm old news now.  :(  Big heart breaking news for me!  But moving on...

I threw up some decorations last night in a last minute attempt to add some Easter cheer to our home.  Here's what I wrote on our new chalkboard.

*quote and design source unknown*

I saved a picture and drew this from looking at the picture, but it was not my creation.

I went ahead and set the table although we're keeping our meals pretty simple.  We're going to have BBQ on Saturday, but I am going to try to at least make Easter breakfast a bit fancier.  So we're stepping it up and using real plates...with our paper napkins! hah  I figured I would keep it easy with the kiddos around, and I also thought I didn't want knives laying around with the little one running around, so I just put out the forks for now.

For the centerpiece, I used plastic eggs to fill around the inside of my Hurricane Vase, and then I used another glass to hold the tulips together inside.  I was inspired by Cassie's adorable centerpieces and tablescapes at Hi Sugarplum!.  I also have some peeps and wooden skewers on hand to add to the flowers if my nieces want to help!

I was inspired and made these "namecards" to put at each place setting.  I think I saw this on pinterest maybe?  It was really cheap and simple.

Of course we have to add a little candy to the mix.  I tied some ribbon with eggs around my glass jar and candle holders to add some color.

As for the mantle, it hasn't changed much.  I still have the mirror there until we get a new tv to mount, so for now I'm trying to cover the cable box and outlet.  I added more eggs, a framed prinout and a banner from Target.

HAPPY EASTER to all of you!!

I'm off to go on a small girl's trip tonight.  We are shopping in Canton, TX which is a big market/festival that is held once a month.  I hope I find some good stuff for the house, which of course I'll let you know if I do.  I'll be returning tomorrow night to start the Easter festivities.

XO,

Tara

Our Christmas Card

 One of my favorite parts of the holiday season is receiving Christmas cards from family and friends.  Opening the mail is so much fun!  I love seeing what everyone has been up to during the year or seeing the little babies or kiddos as they grow.  Such a great time of the year to really reflect on how blessed we all are to have such amazing family and friends.  With that said, I also love sending out our cards so that everyone knows we are also thinking of them and wishing nothing but the best for them in the new year!

We haven't really shared our pictures from New York (last December) with too many people (other than me posting a few here on the blog), so it's a perfect way to share them.  We put the most festive one on the front of us in front of Radio City, and then on the back, we're on Top of the Rock with the Empire State Building in our view, then Central Park and last at Times Square.

We used Zazzle this year to do our cards...mainly because I had bought a groupon for a great deal.  I was thrilled with the quality though! And I can't take all the credit for this one as my husband actually picked the picture and the design he liked best.  I think he did pretty good if I do say so. :)

I'm linking up with Kelly's Korner to share our Christmas Card and to go check out all of the other beautiful cards!  Click HERE to go view them.

XO,

Tara

Adult Hot Chocolate Bar + Christmas Mantel

We recently had our 8th annual girl's Holiday Party at my new house.  In getting ready for the party, I used a white tray to create an adult Hot Chocolate Bar.  Here's what it included:

Mugs + Spoons

Instant Hot Cocoa Mixes

Marshmallows

Candy Canes

Peppermint Liquor

Bailey's

I'm leaving this bar out for the holiday season for our house guests to enjoy.  Of course the kids can use the bar too when they visit as long as we put up the liquor.

Also, here is a glimpse at our holiday mantel.  As we're still getting settled and upacked, I kept the mantel simple.  I like how it turned out for this year!

(note these are from my phone, so please excuse the blurriness)

I added some mercury glass after I took the pic above. 

I'm linking up to A Thoughtful Place's Christmas Vignette Holiday Linky Party.  Go check it out by clicking here.

Also, I haven't forgotten that I haven't shown you my new white cabinets in the kitchen.  I need to be home long enough to clean up the kitchen and take pictures to show you guys!

Also, I'll be back sooner than later to show you the rest of the food and treats from our girl's holiday party.

XO,

Tara

It's Starting to Look Like Christmas + My Wish List

We are still knee deep in boxes at our new home, but we couldn't resist starting to put up Christmas decorations to make it feel more festive and homey.  The rest of the boxes will just have to wait a bit longer to get unpacked.  Our tree went up while we listened to Christmas music, and we ate a big and comforting bowl of chicken and dumplings for dinner.  This has been our tradition for the last five years since we had our first Christmas together.  It's starting to feel and look like Christmas!  I just adore this time of year!

I also came up with some ideas of items I wouldn't mind receiving this year.

MY WISH LIST...............................................................................

Starting from the top going clockwise:

1. Kendra Scott Elle Earrings in Chalcedony

2.  Michael Kors Gold Link Bracelet

3.  Zara Leather Bag

4.  Keurig Coffemaker

5.  J Crew Rail and Wharf Duffel Bag

What's on your wish list??

XO,

Tara

Halloween Treats

Happy Belated Halloween!!

Sorry I missed posting on the actual day, but I enjoyed looking at all of your posts and seeing all of the cute trick or treaters dressed up!

I haven't actually gotten around to posting these until now since we've been busy moving of course, but I just had to share the treats that my niece and I made for Halloween.  These ideas were all found on or inspired by Pinterest. 

To start off with, we made some...

WITCH HATS!

 

and then...

Frankenstien Marshmallow Pops

Actually, she did these all by herself.  Look at those skills drawing that face.  I was so impressed!

(I just wish I had gotten a better picture of the final outcome.  They tasted yummy!!)

Then we made some little ghost men combining the marshmallows and hats!  One is supposed to be scary with the "O" face and one happy.

These were again her idea to try doing the...

Candy Corn Marshmallow Pops 

I think we pulled it off fairly well if I do say so myself. 

By the end of the night things got weird, and we couldn't resist making some gory marshmallow men...with red food coloring for blood and a worm coming out of the head.  You know we had to have some scary stuff too!  haha



It was such a wonderful evening with my niece in the kitchen having fun and sharing time together doing something we both enjoy.  This has become our "thing" we do together, and I absolutely LOVE IT!

(see a tiny bit of our Christmas baking here)

I'll have some house updates soon!

XO,

Tara

Happy 4th!!

Hope you are all having an amazing day celebrating our Independence Day!!  We have so much to be thankful for and are blessed in so many ways.  I'm proud to say that my dad and grandpas served our country and were all veterans of war.  I'm so grateful and thankful for all of the men and women that make sacrifices for us every day and continue to fight for our freedom. 

As this year the 4th fell in the middle of the week, and of course we have to work before and after, we stayed in town and decided to relax at home and grill out. We made shrimp and vegetable kabobs with grilled corn.  For an appetizer, I made a Red, White and Blue cheese and fruit tray with blueberries, watermelon, and goat cheese.

For dessert, we put popsicles in champagne.  Strawberry and lemonade popsicles of course to keep with the theme of red and white!  Oh and I should mention now that Cupcake Prosseco is our absolute fav to drink.  If you haven't tried it, well you should!!  The Cupcake Pinot and Cab are delish too.  Great bottles of wine in the $10 per bottle range.

One more thing....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my beautiful mother!!  Lucky for her she has a wonderful birthday as there are always great parties, days off of work and fireworks to top it all off!!! She's an amazing mother and is one of my best friends too.  Love her very much!!!

XO,

Tara

Easter

HAPPY EASTER

I rarely buy fresh flowers for the house, but I did recently and was so happy every time I looked at them.  Tulips are one of my all time favorite flowers, and I especially loved how they looked against the backdrop of the sunlight streaming in.

Tara

Valentine's Day

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

My husband and I generally don't do anything big or fancy for Valentine's Day.  We just never have.  When we talk about what we want to do it usually involves getting cozy at home, with wine and cooking something up ourselves or getting takeout delivered.  We then just want to watch a movie or hang out and get to bed early! That's a nice treat this time of year.  January and February are our busiest months of the year for both of our jobs, and we usually are working pretty late every evening and some weekends, so the thought of getting home and just being together always sounds fantastic. 

This is a quote I stumbled across not too long ago, and I think it is so sweet.  I would like to print it on canvas and put it in our bedroom. 

{source unknown - if you know, let me know!}

Hope you and your loved ones have a fabulous day celebrating today!

Tara

Simple Gift Idea

Here is a really quick and simple gift idea to maybe help those of you that need a last minute gift.  I did these for some of my co-workers, and I think they loved them.  To start with, I bought some instant hot chocolate mix, peppermint crunch chocolate covered pretzel sticks, clear treat bags, and ribbon.

I put the hot chocolate mix and chocolate covered pretzels in a mug.  I used these initial mugs from Anthropologie.  I then put them in the clear treat bags, gathered the top together and tied a ribbon around to secure.

I  gave them to the ladies I work with so they could use them at work for coffee, tea or the hot chocolate.  This will give them something cute to drink out of while at work (but hopefully will help reduce the amount of paper cups we use too!).

We're on the final countdown to Christmas!!  Good luck to any last minute shoppers!!

Tara

Thanksgiving

Wishing each and every  one of you a

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

 

Today and this weekend we are going to be spending time with the ones we love.  Our home has touches of fall throughout, yummy food baking in the oven and feels cozy with a fire going.  We truly have so much to be thankful for. It really is the most wonderful time of the year!

 

Hope all of you have a blessed day!

 

Tara